I came across this unusual mid-century paper that I thought was designed for use as a focal wall, a very common wall treatment of the period. Initially I passed it by, thinking it was not interesting enough for an Object of the Day blog, but then I found an advertisement in an Interiors magazine that...
The exhibition The Senses: Design Beyond Vision challenged Cooper Hewitt's conservation team in its innovative use of multisensory installations. Learn how conservators addressed specific object issues, including scratch-and-sniff wallpaper, pillows, and chocolate.
Frames is a new rendition of an old idea in children’s wallpaper. While it follows in the tradition of interactive wallpapers designed for children, it is attractive and has a very strong graphic presence even as purchased. It doesn’t need the addition of artwork to be beautiful. Frames invites children of all ages to draw...
The latest in our 4 Questions 4 series interview Kevin Palmer, founding partner of London-based Kin Design. Kin Design is perhaps best known for their work for the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, recent work for the National Maritime Museum (London), and their custom covers for Wallpaper* Magazine. Seated in the beautiful North...
High-school students in New York City are part of an ever increasing digital generation. They not only have an extensive knowledge about social media tools and technology— but also use it on a daily basis. A few of these teens participated in a workshop series at Cooper-Hewitt on interaction design, or design that focuses...
Over the past couple of months we’ve been migrating our Web site to Drupal, which, combined with the summer vacation season, has caused a slowdown in our blogging—particularly from me! So it’s time to get going again. Do you know Hugh Dubberly? Nowadays he runs the Dubberly Design Office in San Francisco. He was at...
DesignBoost NYC was a two-day design conference held at Cooper-Hewitt in June 2011. Thirteen speakers specializing in everything from biomechanics to filmmaking addressed the conference’s theme, “Design Beyond Design” in this series of short talks.
The Interactive Dance Floor has come of age. Introducing: Synplode. Up-and-coming interaction designer Josh Silverman is the developer of this generative art and audio application. credit: www.xkcd.com The system synchronizes rhythmically, melodically, and graphically with a soundtrack that is under constant development. The design provides an opportunity for any musician to compose and integrate easily...
The Megalizer is a sneaker that could put a few DJs out of business. The nearly invisible system of hardware and software allows a dancer to create live music with his shoes. The device uses Flash and Processing software, an xBee wireless module, and force sensors. Engineer Didier Brun wrote this blog post explaining his...
